Lots of improved players on the women's side in 2023. For a mid-longshot I don't mind betting Pegula for the 2024 US Open at 14:1 odds . . .
That is not uncommon of up and comers who have nothing to lose.Only 18 and already has nerves of steel. Igaaa better watch out.
That's what happened to Iga Swiatek in 2020. As a teenager she won the French Open without dropping a set. That year the tennis federation won out over the French Government who wanted to cancel the tournament for the year altogether. The French Open was played after the US Open and it was a rainy miserable affair. Iga was considered a fluke and spent most of 2021 as an emotional loose cannon, going into a complete meltdown at the Tokyo Olympics. She was a bumpkin from a Warsaw suburb who barely spoke English...one and done. A new coaching team came on the following year which included a sports psychologist. Also since 2021, the French tournament is now known as Roland Garros.That is not uncommon of up and comers who have nothing to lose. Once they have status that they need to protect, the extra pressure comes into play.